It is possible for a child of God to live in one room apartment, while an evil man, close to him, lives in a mansion. It is possible for a child of God not to have a car, while his schoolmate, whose lifestyle is dubious, rides the best cars in town. It is possible for a community to host two weddings the same day and after three months, one of the brides, who had committed abortion severally, delivers a baby, while the other bride that fears God, may not be pregnant in many years. It does not matter the type of harrowing experiences that dogs the steps of a child of God, God’s verdict is, “It is well with the righteous”.
And it is! Nothing has changed the believer’s position today and nothing will ever change it. God’s Word stands the test of time. Is it not God, who told me to tell the righteous that it is well with him? If you are a
child of God, it is well with you, irrespective of your tribe, Church, background, the pains you may be passing through, et cetera. So it is, and so it will be! Yes, it is well with you, and because of you, it is well also with anyone in relationship with you. Heaven and earth will pass away but not one syllable from the Living God.
The Living God says that it is well with His people. My god, when I was an unbeliever, was stolen
during the war, it would not have said it, as it was not well with it. If it was not well with it, how then
would it be well with me? The odds were against Joseph, my namesake, in his father’s house, but it was
well with him. When his siblings sold him, it was still well with him. One day, the randy wife of his master wanted him to sleep with her, and nobody would have known since she had sent away her servants, under one pretext or the other, but Joseph refused.
She sent him to jail but there, it was well with him. People around him might not have known it. He might not also have known it but it did not diminish anything. The future would prove it. And it did! In prison, Pharaoh sent for him and he emerged as the Prime Minister of Egypt, the cradle of civilization, without contesting any election! It was a straight ride from Prison to the Palace! When Babylon defeated Israel in battle and carried most of the people to exile, including Daniel, one might have wondered whether all things could still be well with the righteous. In human evaluation, it could rather be seen as being ill with him. Thanks be to God, for He knows how to advertise His children for good. Daniel was one of the people the king was very particular about their feeding, so that they would be handling creditably, the affairs of the realm. Uncle, aware of who he was, that in rain or sunshine, it is well with the righteous, refused to eat the sumptuous food prescribed by the king. The kings’ servants would not accept that, fearing that the king would deal roughly with them, should he be lean for not eating the executive food. A deal was struck between Daniel and the officers to see if he would be lean by eating mere pulse and drinking water. At the end, he came out fairer and fatter than those, who ate the king’s food. No one was left in doubt that it is well with the righteous, food or no food, clothing or no clothing!
No one knew that the big test was still coming, which would determine who was who. It was the king that dreamt and forgot his dream. He called his men, the wise men, magicians, et cetera, but none of them had any idea about his dream. “Tell us the dream and we will give you the interpretation,” they urged him. The king insisted that the proof that they could interpret his dream was contingent on their ability to tell him the dream.
“No human being can do that except the gods,” they pleaded with him. The king determined to exterminate every wise man and magician in his kingdom. Daniel and his men would be victims too, being also among the wise men. They went into prayers, the believer’s weapon, and God revealed it to Uncle Daniel.
He told the king his dream and gave him the interpretation. It earned him and his brethren, promotion! It
is well with the righteous, whether free or in prison! We can go on and on, mentioning the names of people in the Bible, ,through whom, God fulfilled His Word that it is well with the righteous.
May we not make the mistake of thinking that the righteous man is the individual, who tries to do good to his neighbours, who lives honest life, is dedicated to his Church, et cetera. The believer’s righteous is imputed to him by God through the vicarious death of Jesus. It is that person, who, one day, recognized that he was a sinner and that in the Lord Jesus, God has provided him a Saviour. He confessed his sins to Him and surrendered his life tom Him, accepting Him as his Lord and personal Saviour. Through daily reading and studying of God’s Word, and fervency in prayer, like a new born baby, he grows up in the Lord.
The Bible makes it clear that self righteousness cannot save any person because our righteousness is like a filthy rag before God. In that case, there is nothing we can do by our human effort to please
God. If we could please Him by our so-called good works, He would not have sent Jesus to come and die for our sins. It was His love for man that compelled Him to send the Lord Jesus to suffer and die on our
behalf.
I do not know anybody, whose spiritual Curriculum Vitae was close to that of Cornelius, the Roman Army officer. If what was detailed about him was by a human being, we would dismiss it quickly as the product of exaggeration or that someone was paid to say so. It was God, Himself, Who described him as, “a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always,” Acts 10:2. He also, “saw a vision”. As great as his devotion to God was, there was a missing link in his life. He was not born again! He might have been doing better than the children of God, but he was not one of them. If he died in that state, he would have gone to hell. That was why the angel of God told him to send for Peter, “He shall tell thee what thou ought to do,” verse 6. He did, and Peter came and preached Jesus to him and the people he had gathered. He, his family and those people he had invited, opened their hearts and received the Lord Jesus in their lives. The Holy Ghost fell upon them. It is
yielding one’s life to Jesus that makes someone righteous. Once someone is bornagain, God’s affirmation remains that it is well with him.
For further comment, Please contact: Osondu Anyalechi: 0802 3002471; anyalechiosondu@ THE HEMESONS yahoo.com